Ministers always said their controversial HS2 rail project would trigger a
jobs boom and it certainly has for the Whitehall quango overseeing the £32bn
scheme.

HS2 Limited has more than doubled its headcount in just three months, with an array of positions offerings “exceptional benefits packages” at the taxpayer’s expense. It plans to hire 100 more staff by the end of the summer.

As well as a burgeoning team of “stakeholder advisors” and “community managers” with annual salaries of up to £60,000, there is to be a seven-strong team of spin doctors.

The publicity team will include a “proactive press officer” and “digital social media advisor”, responsible for managing the rail route’s reputation on Twitter, Facebook and other websites.

Even though the first leg of the line is not set to open until 2026, there are already 215 people working at HS2 limited’s London headquarters – up from just 100 in mid January. However, the recruitment is set continue over the coming months with the quangos headcount expected to hit 300 this summer - including some 20 community engagement officials.

Campaigners trying to block the new rail route, which will initially run between London and Birmingham, described many of the new positions as a “gross” waste of taxpayers’ money.

Seb Berry, an independent councillor from Great Missenden, in Buckinghamshire: “Taxpayers will be rightly disgusted that they have to pay for a government spin operation to convince them that HS2 is a good idea when it patently isn’t.”

However, opponents of the project also criticised a range of different official designed to engage with communities up and down the 100-mile new line.

HS2 limited is currently recruiting for “stakeholder and consultation managers” in London and Birmingham, paid up to £50,000.

The job advert for this role says the successful applicant will have to “manage delegates and maintain records of commitments, participation and community benefits” and “establish strong and close relationships with contact within HS2”.

HS2 Limited has also recently advertised for an undisclosed number of “community forums managers”, each paid up to £60,000.

Other similar roles include also up for grabs include community liason and stakeholders managers and advisors.

Hilary Wharf, a director of HS2 Action Alliance, one of the groups opposing the next work, said: “The government has also ready held a consultation into HS2 and it was a farce. People were excluded from meetings. People were tightly controlled so they could not speak freely about this terrible plan.

“All these jobs are very premature – it is possible that impending Judicial Reviews will see off HS2.

“And even if it doesn’t many of these stakeholder engagement jobs are largely about ticking boxes – the Government has already decided what it wants to do.”

A spokesman for HS2 limited said that the Government had given a clear signal to it commitment to HS2 and the headcount is rising at the company to reflect that.

“To help design the best high speed railway we can and to minimise its environmental impact it is vitally important that we get the local knowledge of all the affected communities along the 140 miles of the planed route,” the spokesman said.

“To do this we have developed a comprehensive engagement programme of community, environmental and planning forums.”